History of Gage County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religious, and civic development from the early days to the present time, Part 42

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849-
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company
Number of Pages: 1120

USA > Nebraska > Gage County > History of Gage County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religious, and civic development from the early days to the present time > Part 42

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He was held a prisoner in Libby Prison, from which he was finally exchanged .and rejoined his regiment, with which he served until Lee surrendered, at Appomattox. In the fall of 1865 he returned to Nebraska territory, made arrangements for his family to join him, and settled at once in the practice of the law at Beatrice. He was not formally admitted to the bar of the territory, however, until the regular fall term of the district court, October 7, 1867, due no doubt to the irregularity of the sessions of the court.

He was an active, aggressive lawyer, affable in manner and made and retained friends. From 1865 until his death, much of the legal business of the county was transacted by him. He died suddenly, in his office in Beatrice, August 25, 1870, and his remains lie in a secluded spot, now almost unidentified, in the Beatrice cemetery. He was a man of many excellent qualities and great worth of char- acter. He died at the age of forty-one years, an age when most men approach the zenith of their powers and usefulness and at a time when the new state of Nebraska contained boundless possibilities for men of his profes- sion.

In the spring of 1869, came Nathan K. Griggs, a young man who had but recently been admitted to the bar in the state of In- diana. In June of that year he opened an office in Beatrice, but as a school teacher he found a more lucrative and a more certain means of sustenance than the law afforded. He was but a beginner in his profession, without means, and litigation was not only scarce in Gage county but was as yet a luxury. He accepted the position of village school-master for the winter of 1867-1868, and thereby did more, perhaps, to ingratiate himself in public favor than by any other course he could pos- sibly have taken. Although a man of many activities and engaging on other occupations, beginning with 1869, Mr. Griggs found ample employment for his abilities as a rising young lawyer.

In the spring of 1868 Hiram P. Webb came to Beatrice and was admitted to practice at the bar, and that spring Jefferson B. Weston

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also opened a law office in the village of Beatrice. Numbers 8, Vol. I, of the Blue l'alley Record, under date of August 26, 1868, carried under the heading "Professional" the card of Jefferson B. Weston, who announced himself as a notary public, conveyancer, real- estate agent and lawyer. Another card reads, "S. B. Harrington, Attorney and Counselor at Law and Real Estate Agent," and the third and last is "N. K. Griggs, Attorney and Coun- selor at law and Real Estate Agent." To these announcements, there was added, in the 22d number of the same volume of the Courier, under date of December 5, 1868, the follow- ing: "H. P. Webb, Attorney and Counselor at Law." At the same time there appeared in the Record the professional card of Stephenson & Hayward, of Nebraska City, who, among other things, announce that they "will practice in the courts of Gage county." Volume 1, No. 1 of the Beatrice Clarion, the successor of the Blue Valley Record, under date of May 8, 1869, contains the following professional card : "W. H. Ashby, Attorney and Counselor at Law and Real Estate Agent, Beatrice, Ne- braska," and the public is informed also that Mr. Ashby will make collections and pay taxes for non-residents, while Stephenson & Hay- ward continue to announce that they "will practice in the courts of Gage county."

By 1869 this group of pioneer lawyers had found the government land office the chief source of professional business and income, and they became expert in the law and rules of practice regulating contests involving en- tries of public lands.

About 1870 the Gage county bar, as thus composed, was augmented by the advent of Smith C. B. Dean, and for several years he and the others named, constituted the bar of Gage county. They were all able and scholarly men, all achieved success in their profession, and all, with the exception of Ashby, have long since paid the great debt of nature.

A brief sketch of S. E. Harrington already appears in this chapter, and elsewhere in this volume will be found sketches of Weston and Webb, while in the biographical department. in the sketch of Samuel Rinaker, will be found

an extended reference to the life of his partner, N. K. Griggs.

William H. Ashby was for many years a distinguished member of the Gage county bar. He was born in Livingston county, Missouri, in 1841 and grew to manhood in that state. Having obtained a good, usable education, he was on the point of entering upon a profes- sional career when the great Civil war cut short all plans of a purely personal nature. He followed the fortunes of the southern Con- federacy, at first attaching himself to the com- mand of General Sterling Price, and took part in the battles of Pea Ridge, Iuka, and Corinth. He served in the armies of the south until the close of the war, was seriously wound- ed during the siege of Vicksburg, was promot- ed to a captaincy, and on the collapse of the Confederacy he was paroled, May 16, 1865. Within that year he came to Nebraska City and engaged in the practice of the law. In 1869 he moved to Beatrice and with J. M. Hoggshead purchased a half-interest in the Blue Valley Record, changed the name of the paper to the Beatrice Clarion, and, with Hoggshead, Nelson and Howard, conducted the paper as an in- dependent publication until it was sold to Theodore Coleman, in the spring of 1870, and the name changed to the Beatrice Express. For a period of six eventful and busy years Captain Ashby here successfully practised his profession as a lawyer. In June, 1875, he was appointed, by President Grant, a member of the Sioux Indian Commission and spent that summer and fall amongst the Indians of South Dakota. The commission having negotiated with the Sioux a treaty of purchase for the Black Hills region, Captain Ashby was dis- patched to Washington as the bearer of its report. In June, 1877, he was sent by our government as its special representative to Panama, the West Indies, and South America, to investigate and report upon certain abuses in the importation of sugar. He was recalled from this service in 1878, and, returning to Beatrice, he resumed the practice of the law. In 1881 he became interested in the rising city of Wymore. With Samuel Wymore he pur- chased a tract of land adjoining the original

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townsite and laid it out as an addition to the city. Having sold his Wymore property at good figures he, in 1886, returned to Beatrice and again resumed the practice of his profes- sion.

Captain Ashby was thrice married, first to Miss Coila B. Lambkin, of Mississippi, in 1865 ; second, to Miss Lilla Shaw, July 4, 1879, from both of whom he was divorced. His third marriage proved a happy and congenial one, the issue of which was two sons and a daughter. About 1912 he removed to the state of California, and he is now living in the city of Berkeley, under the shadow of the great State University of California. His two sons are in the service of the United States in the present great world war. Captain Ashby is a man of commanding presence, a good friend, a loyal citizen, and a lawyer of more than ordinary ability.

Smith C. B. Dean was by birth, education and training, a Canadian. Before coming to Nebraska he had already acquired reputation and standing as a lawyer in the courts of Canada. His health failing there, he came to the new territory of Nebraska in the vain hope of eradicating from his system the germs of pulmonary consumption. He was a man of fine presence, possessed an excellent educa- tion and was endowed with abilities of a very high order. He was a lawyer of great learn- ing and industry, and the pleadings and other legal documents drawn by him were models of brevity and clearness. He was about forty years of age, and on his arrival in Beatrice he formed a co-partnership in the practice of the law with Jefferson B. Weston, their office be- ing on the ground floor, beneath the United States land office, in the Saunders store build- ing, now No. 309 Court street. Mr. Dean took a deep interest in the general welfare of the community, was very public-spirited, and lent his assistance to the upbuilding of Beatrice and Gage county at a time when such services as he willingly rendered were of the greatest value. He was the first mayor of the city of Beatrice, in 1873, and was a potent factor in shaping its destiny. He acquired great in- fluence in the community, and at the time of

his demise his voice carried further than any other in public affairs. He died in Beatrice on the first day of May, 1877.

About 1872 the bar of Gage county re- ceived several notable accessions. In April of that year E. Sanborn Chadwick and Alfred Hazlett were both admitted to practice, and in 1873 Leonard W. Colby, Louis B. Sale, and William H. Somers were licensed in the prac- tice of the law and identified themselves with the Gage county bar.

Mr. Chadwick was the first police judge of the city of Beatrice. He remained here but a short time, made but small impression on the community, and left here many years ago, locating in Bloomington, Nebraska, where he was for several years county judge of his coun- ty. He died there many years ago.

Mr. Sale had been a classmate of Leonard W. Colby in the University of Wisconsin and they began professional life together here as partners. He remained here but a short time, returning to Wisconsin, where he achieved pro- fessional success and where political honors came to him, amongst others, a seat in con- gress, to which he was repeatedly elected. While still a comparatively young man, he lost his life while bathing on a Wisconsin lake. Seeing his two sons struggling in the water for their lives, he rushed to their rescue and all were drowned.

William H. Somers came to Gage county in 1872 and was for many years a leading citizen of Beatrice, but he achieved no reputation as a lawyer, other things diverting his attention and energies. He served one term in the legislature, as a float representative from Gage and other counties. In 1881 he was appointed receiver of the United States government land office at Beatrice. At the close of his term of office, in 1886, he removed with his family to California and opened a large fruit ranch in El Cajon valley, seventeen miles up the coast from San Diego. Several years ago he dis- posed of this property and moved to San Diego, where he was killed, about 1908, in a street- car accident.

In 1874 Oliver M. Enlow was admitted to the bar of Gage county and he remained in

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the practice until his death, in 1916. He did not aspire to great eminence in the legal pro- fession but chose rather, whenever possible, to combine it with some clerical or other occu- pation. He was for some time clerk of the district court, during the incumbency of Judge Gantt. He was county judge of Gage county for four years, and in the latter part of his life, for a number of years, he was deputy as- sessor ; following the general election of 1911, on the death of A. K. Smith, who had been elected county assessor, Mr. Enlow was ap- pointed to that office, and he was the last of the county assessors. He was a warm-hearted, generous man, much esteemed by all who knew him.

William M. Forbes was born February 28, 1847, near Greensburg, Indiana. He came to Beatrice in July, 1876, and settled in the prac- tice of the law. He was a graduate of the law department of the Iowa State University, class of 1874, and had been a school teacher in Burlington, Iowa. He served, by appoint- ment, as county judge of Gage county for the unexpired term of J. M. Carter, in 1878, and in 1879 he formed a law partnership with Judge Leander M. Pemberton. After several years' successful practice at the bar of Gage county Mr. Forbes removed to Topeka, where he has been a prominent member of the bar of that city. He was possessed of considerable means for a western lawyer and on his ar- rival in Beatrice he erected an elegant home for those early days, on the corner of Fifth and Lincoln streets, opposite the Episcopal church. He and his wife were active members of the Methodist church and were important factors in the social life of the city in that early day ..

Charles O. Bates was a briliant young man who entered the law office of Colby & Hazlett in 1875; he was admitted to the bar about 1878, and at the same time to an in- terest in the business of his preceptors. His success as a lawyer and politician was imme- diate. In 1890 he was elected county attorney of Gage county, but he resigned before the expiration of his term of office and, leaving Beatrice, finally settled, about 1891, in Tacoma,

Washington, where he now resides and is a prominent member of the bar.

Albert Hardy came to Beatrice in February, 1878, from the state of New York, where he had been for many years engaged in the prac- tice of his profession, at Sandy creek, Oswego county. He was about forty years of age and in his prime. But for some eccentricities of character, he might easily have been the head of the Gage county bar and a successful practitioner of the law. He sometimes tried cases well and often won where he should have failed, and, everything considered, he was fairly successful as a lawyer. With the ex- ception of a year or two in Denver, Mr. Hardy followed his calling in Beatrice from the time of his arrival here until about 1906. He then went to Pierre, South Dakota, to live, and a few years ago he passed away, aged about eighty years.

Andrew J. Hale was for several years a prominent member of the Gage county bar. He was born in Chittenden county, near Bur- lington, Vermont, March 8, 1842. He re- ceived a general education in the common schools of his native state and in Fairfax Institute, at Burlington, where he spent three years as a student. About 1865 he graduated from the law department of Union College (now University), at Albany, New York, and in 1867 he located in Nebraska City in the practice of his profession; in 1876 he came to Beatrice and opened a law office. In the early '80s he was in partnership with Albert Hardy. In 1886, having inherited a considerable for- tune, he purchased, amongst other real estate, a half-section of land a few miles southwest of Beatrice, abandoned the practice of the law and engaged in farming and stock-raising. This venture proving a failure and having lost most of his property, about 1885, he left the county and returned to Nebraska City, where he died a few years ago.

Thomas Farrar Burke, a young lawyer from New England settled at Blue Springs in 1879. Mr. Burke was the posses- sor of a good education, was a man of great energy, and rapidly acquired a practice at the

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bar of Gage county. About 1882 Frank N. Prout came to the county, first to Beatrice and later to Blue Springs, where he formed a law partnership with Mr. Burke. Both were good lawyers, both ambitious and both affable gen- tlemen. They were prominent at our bar for a number of years and as lawyers performed a real service to the people of the state of Ne- braska in the case of the State on the Relation of Mattoon versus The Republican Valley Railroad Company, reported in Volume 17 of the Nebraska Supreme Court Reports, at page 647. This was an action in mandamus, brought in the supreme court of Nebraska, to compel the railroad company to build within the cor- porate limits of Blue Springs a depot and put in the necessary sidetracks and switches for a station, and to stop its trains there for the proper transaction of business. The Crete branch of the railroad line had been extended to Wymore through Blue Springs, but the company refused to afford railroad facilities to Blue Springs, while at the same time afford- ing its rival every possible support. The writ of mandamus was allowed against the defendant and it was compelled to furnish the city of Blue Springs with service, thereby establish- ing the rule that no common carrier could unjustly discriminate against a municipal cor- poration in Nebraska.

About twenty years ago Mr. Burke re- moved from Nebraska to Wyoming and lo- cated at Cheyenne, where he has attained both professional success and distinguished honors as a lawyer, having served the state of Wy- oming for several years as its attorney general, and for many years has served as a member of the board of regents for the Wyoming State University.

Mr. Prout removed to Beatrice after the dis- solution of the copartnership and was for a number of years city attorney ; in 1898 he was elected to the state senate, from Gage county. In 1900 he was elected attorney general of the state of Nebraska and, by a reëlection, he serv- ed the people in the important office four years, beginning January 1, 1901. Since retiring from office he has practised law in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and in Fairbury and Humboldt,

Nebraska, and has finally located permanently in Falls City, in the practice of his profession.

Nathan T. Gadd came to Gage county about 1880, and located in the practice of the law at Liberty. Mr. Gadd was an active and very useful man in his community. For several years he was an important factor not only in Liberty but in the county of Gage, and from a mere youthful beginner in the law he grew into an important and lucrative practice. When the great northwest was being rapidly settled and the Burlington Railroad was pushing a line across northern Nebraska and through to the Puget Sound country, he went to Broken Bow, in Custer county, Nebraska, where he became active in the practice of his profession. Mr. Gadd is an impulsive, warm-hearted, courtly gentleman, much esteemed by his pro- fessional brethren and given to many kindly, generous acts.

William H. Richards was admitted to the bar of Gage county about 1895. He was a man of limited education but proved to be a very good business lawyer. He is a member of a pioneer family in Pawnee county, his parents having located at the head of Turkey creek, in that county, in 1859. They were people of sterling worth of character and Mr. Richards inherited from them many of the family characteristics. From the time of his admission to the bar until he left Gage county he practised his profession at Liberty, while at the same time engaging in other pursuits. About 1908 he left the county and located at Humboldt, in the practice of the law, and later he removed to Wichita, Kansas.

W. V. A. Dodds was admitted to the Gage county bar in 1885; his practice however was very limited, as he gave his attention largely to outside matters. For several years he con- ducted a large farm in Gage county and later he went to Montana, where he is now located in business.

George M. Johnston came to Beatrice about 1890. He erected a paper mill near the city, placed a dam across the Big Blue river and proceeded to build up a business as a paper manufacturer. But a flood, in 1902, destroyed the water power, and the enterprise was aban-

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doned. Mr. Johnston then engaged in the practice of the law, having been previously admitted to the bar in the state of Illinois. He was successful in his professional work and was an active member of the bar of Gage county for several years. Later he went to Missouri, where he engaged in various enter- prises, and he died about 1912.

Menzo Terry, a farmer near Pickrell, who had been previously admitted to the bar, was elected county attorney, on the Democratic ticket, in 1905 and served one term in that office, during which time and for a year or two afterward he was in partnership with Fred O. McGirr. In 1910 he left this state and he is now located on a fruit farm in south- ern California.

Robert S. Bibb came from the Peoria, Illi- nois, bar to the Gage county bar in 1884. Mr. Bibb had been a member of the Illinois legis- lature and a practicing attorney at Peoria. Shortly after his arrival here he formed a co- partnership with W. V. A. Dodds, in the prac- tice of the law, and about 1890 he entered the firm of Griggs & Rinaker, which was there- after known as Griggs, Rinaker & Bibb. On the removal of Mr. Griggs to Lincoln, in 1893, the firm name was changed to Rinaker & Bibb. This firm did a large and very successful legal business until Mr. Bibb's death, which oc- curred May 17, 1907. Mr. Bibb was the first county attorney of Gage county, having been elected to that office in 1885. He was very prominent in the business, professional and social life of Beatrice during his entire resi- dence here. He was an unusually good law- yer, one of the ablest trial lawyers the bar of Gage county has ever produced. Personally he was genial, kindly and considerate. He was popular with the court and with his pro- fessional associates. His final resting place is in Evergreen Home cemetery, and the spot is marked by a rugged monument which, in a sense, is indicative of his character.

George Arthur Murphy came to Beatrice from Indiana about the year 1886, and en- gaged at once in the practice of his profes- sion. His success was immediate, and while he lived here he had a large and paying client-

age. In 1891 he was elected county attorney of Gage county, and he was reelected in 1893. In 1898 he was elected state senator from Gage county. In 1901 Mr. Murphy removed to the state of Oklahoma and located at Mus- cogee, where he has since resided. He has been successful in his profession and has ac- quired wealth.

W. C. LeHané came to Gage county about the year 1890 and for a while was a law part- ner of George Arthur Murphy. In 1896 he was appointed receiver of the Beatrice Savings Bank, and his duties as receiver absorbed his time to such an extent that he practically abandoned the practice of the law. He so managed the affairs of the bank as to pay ninety cents on the dollar of its indebtedness. After the adjustment of the receivership, Mr. LeHane went to Idaho, where for a time he engaged in the practice of his profession at Boise City. Later he removed to California, and he is now living near San Francisco, in the Sacramento valley.

Charles E. Bush is a son of Judge James E. Bush. He is a graduate of the Beatrice high school, studied law in his father's office and was admitted to the bar of Gage county about the year 1891. He later removed to Oklaho- ma and for several years he has been located in the successful practice of the law at Tulsa, that state.

Jean Cobbey, a son of Judge J. E. Cobbey, was born in Gage county, graduated from the Beatrice high school, attended the State Uni- versity of Nebraska and took a course in the law and was admitted to the bar. He began the practice of his profession in Beatrice in 1911 and in 1912 was elected county attorney of Gage county. He was defeated for reëlec- tion in 1914 and shortly thereafter removed to Nebraska City. Later he sought service in the army on the Mexican border, and when our government entered the world war, in April, 1917, he was serving as chaplain of his regiment, but he recently resigned and is now with the colors in France.

Philip E. Winter was one of the early law- yers of Wymore. For a number of years he was successfully engaged in the practice of his

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profession there with E. N. Kauffman, his brother-in-law. He later removed to Omalıa, where for several years he was an active mem- ber of the bar. He then located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and is now a prominent mem- ber of the bar at that place.

Thomas D. Cobbey located in Beatrice in the practice of his profession in 1882. Short- ly thereafter he moved to Wymore and he was actively engaged in the practice of the law there for a number of years, successfully trans- acting a large volume of legal business. Sev- eral years ago he moved to Denver, Colorado, and he is now one of the successful and wealthy lawyers of that city.

James A. Smith came from Iowa City to Beatrice in 1879. He was born at Geneva, Illinois, November 22, 1844. On the break- ing out of the Civil war he enlisted in the First Missouri Cavalry, at St. Louis, in Sep- tember, 1861. He was wounded in the battle of Sugar Creek, Arkansas, February 19, 1862, lost his right arm at the shoulder and a finger of his left hand, and was discharged Septem- ber 22, 1862. He read law in the office of Governor Kirkwood of Iowa and married Ca- lista Saunders, of Iowa City, November 23, 1868. Shortly after coming to Beatrice he was elected police judge of the city, an office which he held for several years. He died in Beatrice many years ago and his remains are buried in Evergreen Home cemetery.

John N. Richards was born in Adams coun- ty, Ohio, February 22, 1850. In 1856 he went to LaSalle county, Illinois, and in that state as a youth he engaged in farming. Having obtained a common-school education, he spent some time in the Wesleyan Uni- versity at Bloomington, Illinois. He came to Nebraska in 1874 and located at Falls City, where he was principal of the city schools. He removed to Beatrice in 1877 and entered upon the practice of the law, in which he was fairly successful. £ He left Beatrice several years ago, and is now located at Colorado City, Colorado.

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History of Gage County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religious, and civic development from the early days to the present time, Part 42

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849- Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company Number of Pages: 1120

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849-
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company
Number of Pages: 1120